Since 1995, "Designworks", located in a Los Angeles suburb, has been a 100-percent-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group. BMW wants its design to have a finger on the pulse of the times. That goes for cars and their engines. BMW has worked with Designworks since 1985, when it commissioned the designers there to develop a seat-integrated belt for the BMW 850i. More than 5,000 electric vehicles are registered in and around San Francisco, and California is an inexhaustible source of inspiration - including for BMW.